Lake Kivu is producing higher fish stocks today compared to what it gave fishermen before a ban on fishing was imposed on the lake, the Rwanda Agriculture Board (Rab) has said.“After lifting the ban, production tripled,” Gregoire Dusabemungu, the Rab head of fish farming and fisheries, said on Monday. In late July last year, Rab imposed a two-month ban on fishing in Lake Kivu to allow fish to breed and multiply its stock. The measure was taken because of declining fish quantities in the water.At the time, figures indicated the output of Lake Kivu was 1,300 tonnes of fish per month. The ban was lifted in October, last year, and officials said the impact of the ban would undergo an evaluation.Dusabemungu said the ban had a good impact as currently the production is estimated at around 2,100 tonnes of fish per month.The president of Federation of Fishers’ Cooperatives in Rwanda, Théophile Nyandwi, said production was bigger immediately after lifting the ban in October, last year, but began dwindling in January.Nyandwi said the decrease is due to the increase of fishermen on the lake. However, production remains higher than before the ban, he said.Officials have said the ban will be effected periodically.The president of the Federation of Fishers’ Cooperatives in Rusizi district, Remy Ugirashebuja, said the output is currently estimated at 60 tonnes of fish per month.
